BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND REGULATORY REFORM

Post-mortem Procedures (Nuclear Industry)

John Hutton: Further to the written ministerial statement by my right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on Thursday 26 April 2007, Official Report, column 28WS, I wish to announce today slightly revised terms of reference for the inquiry currently being carried out by Michael Redfern QC. The revised terms of reference are as follows:
	(a) Having regard to the provisions of the Human Tissue Act 1961, the Coroners' Rules 1984, the Coroners' Act 1988 and predecessor legislation, to enquire into the circumstances in which, from 1955, organs/tissue were removed from individuals at NHS or other facilities, and sent to and analysed at nuclear laboratory facilities.
	(b) In particular, to establish so far as practicable:
	(i) when, where, by whom and by what means the taking of organs/tissue was requested and authorised;
	(ii) whether the taking of organs/tissue was based on informed consent by the family and/or surviving relatives;
	(iii) the purpose to be achieved by the retention and analysis of the organs/tissue removed; the generic results of analysis; and the identity of all publications in which the results were presented and commented upon;
	(iv) whether the families or surviving relatives were informed of the results of the analysis, or the identity of the relevant publications;
	(v) when, where and by whom the retention, storage, transportation, analysis, reporting and disposal of the organs/tissue was authorised;
	(vi) the circumstances in which the organs/tissue were retained, stored, transported, analysed, reported upon and disposed;
	(vii) the general purpose to be served by such retention, storage, analysis and publication of results;
	(viii) when this activity ceased, and the circumstances in which it ceased.
	(c) To consider such other issues in connection with the above matters as the Secretary of State may direct.
	(d) To report to the Secretary of State as soon as possible.
	(e) To make recommendations.
	Michael Redfern QC has requested these revised terms of reference in the light of the work that he and his inquiry team have undertaken so far.

TREASURY

Departmental Expenditure Limits

Angela Eagle: Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, HM Treasury's total DEL will be reduced by £73,000 from £229,448,000 to £229,375,000 and the Administration budget will be reduced by £2,670,000 from £173,851,000 to £171,181,000. The impact on resources and capital is set out in the following table:
	
		
			 £'000 
			  Change NEW DEL 
			  Voted Non-voted Voted Non-voted Total 
			 Resource 6,572,000 -6,572,000 210,547,000 21,240,000 231,787,000 
			 Ofwhich  
			 Administration budget (1) 3,902,000 -6,572,000 170,331,000 850,000 171,181,000 
			 Near-cash in RDEL 6,231,000 -6,572,000 198,385,000 32,418,000 230,803,000 
			 Capital(2)  - 7,200,000 - 7,200,000 
			 Less Depreciation(3) -73,000 - -9,612,000 - -9,612,000 
			 Total 6,499,000 -6,572,000 208,135,000 21,240,000 229,375,000 
			 (1)The total of 'Administration budget' and 'Near-cash in resource DEL' figures may well be greater than total resource DEL due to the definitions overlapping.  (2)Capital DEL includes items treated as resource in Estimates and accounts but which are treated as Capital DEL in budgets.  (3)Depreciation, which forms part of resource DEL, is excluded from the total DEL, since capital DEL includes capital spending and to include depreciation of those assets would lead to double counting. 
		
	
	The resource and capital DELs remain unchanged while total DEL is reduced by £73,000 following an increase in depreciation. The reduction in the administration budget arises from the reclassification of Administration budget spending to other current to finance increased other current spending by HM Treasury to reflect a reduction of £390,000 in appropriations in aid and the Office of Government Commerce to fund the remaining costs associated with the OGC's voluntary early retirement and severance scheme costs arising from the Transforming Government Procurement review.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Blackpool Task Force Report

Hazel Blears: In March last year the then Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, invited a taskforce to review the totality of economic, social and environmental development plans in the Blackpool area. The Blackpool taskforce comprised senior representation from Blackpool Council, ReBlackpool, English Partnerships, the North-West Regional Development Agency and Government Office North-West.
	The taskforce reported in July 2007 and made a number of observations and recommendations. Since that date, the Government have been actively engaged in discussions with Blackpool and national and regional agencies about how best to take forward the recommendations. On 1 February, the Secretary of State for Transport announced a centrepiece of the Government's response to the taskforce, confirming a £85 million investment of public funds to renew Blackpool's trams. This and other announcements are contained in the response I am publishing today, which includes:
	Education and Skills: Over £100 million will be spent on a complete overhaul of Blackpool's education facilities, including new schools, a new town centre further education campus, a new higher education facility and major investment in skills training. This investment is vital to produce the highly skilled and qualified workforce that Blackpool needs to diversify from its traditional but declining employment base.
	Transport: A £100 million boost to local transport is underway, with an announcement earlier this month for a modernised tram system, together with investments to improve the airport and important studies to take forward rail and road improvements. Improved connectivity is vital to bring not just visitors but also new investors and jobs to Blackpool and its Fylde coast neighbours.
	Resort: £82 million already committed to improve the beach and resort offer, with improved seafront defences, investment in events and a promise to respond constructively to bids from Blackpool for investment in the illuminations and further beachfront improvements.
	Regeneration: The NWDA is investing, with ReBlackpool, to take forward major town centre regeneration including theTalbot gateway. This initiative, together with environmental improvements, will help restore Blackpool's position as a major shopping and sub-regional centre.
	Housing and Accommodation: English Partnerships will be investing an initial £35 million in the South beach and North beach areas to help improve the housing mix and create more mixed communities. Housing investment will help reduce the surplus of unsuitable houses of multiple occupation and stimulate private sector investment in improved hotels and housing.
	Working Across Administrative Boundaries: The Government applaud the co-operation between Blackpool and its Fylde coast neighbours on a multi-area agreement, and the recognition that economic regeneration needs joined-up work both within the town and with neighbouring authorities.
	Other recommendations in the report will be the subject of feasibility studies and funding bids, and I am pleased to note the co-operation between the NWDA, English Partnerships, HEFCE, Government Office North-West and Blackpool in developing future plans.
	The regional director, Government Office North-West, will report to me on progress on a quarterly basis for the next year, and I intend to visit Blackpool within a year to discuss progress on regeneration.

Regional Casino-led Regeneration (Alternative Approaches)

Hazel Blears: I am today announcing the publication of a review of the "Alternative Approaches to Regional Casino-led Regeneration" prepared by my officials. Copies will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
	In July last year the Prime Minister asked me to undertake this review, in recognition of the lack of consensus in Parliament about regional casinos in light of the potential of a regional casino to increase problem gambling within the regional catchment area. The then Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (James Purnell) in announcing the review on 16 July 2007 said:
	"it would be prudent to examine afresh whether deprived areas can be equally well served by other forms of regeneration".
	The aim of the review has been to examine the evidence of whether regional casinos are the best way to regenerate specific deprived areas. It has drawn heavily on evidence within the various documents submitted to the Casino Advisory Panel for the licensing of a regional casino, published literature on casinos specifically and the benefits of regeneration more generally. A list of these points of reference is included in the document.
	Specifically the review examined:
	What is the regeneration need which casinos are thought to meet and what is the nature of the market failures involved;
	What are the economic benefits of casino-led regeneration;
	What are the economic and social costs of casino-led regeneration; and
	What are the alternatives to casino-led regeneration could be considered.
	The review highlights the difficulty in establishing the evidence base for the generic benefits of casinos because the source material is strongly influenced by specific location factors, and by the underpinning purpose of individual pieces of research. In particular, there are uncertainties about the scale of the benefits of a regional casino for job creation; about the wider benefits to an area from multiplier effects; or about the degree of additionality a casino would bring to existing activities. Moreover, the leakage effects—where new jobs are filled by commuters not locals limiting the benefits to the immediate area of the casino—is potentially higher than other forms of regeneration because pay within casinos is relatively high and training opportunities make it attractive to people already in employment. Finally, the review concludes that, as with most regeneration projects, there are economic and social costs associated with casino-led regeneration. In the case of a regional casino there are potentially significant costs that would arise as a result of an increase in compulsive gambling.
	The review does recognise that the unique nature of a regional casino, especially in terms of inward investment, would make it challenging for any one of the alternatives the review examines in isolation to achieve the scale of benefits that could be secured through a regional casino. However, when the potential economic and social costs are factored in alongside the uncertainties around the extent to which the benefits of a regional casino are truly additional then the difference could be much reduced or even eliminated if a number of alternative options are packaged together.

TRANSPORT

First Great Western Franchise

Ruth Kelly: The performance of First Great Western has persistently fallen short of its customers' expectations and has been unacceptable to both passengers and Government.
	I can inform the House today that First Great Western has breached its franchise agreement by exceeding the limits on cancellations, and also by misreporting those cancellations.
	I can now outline the measures I have taken, and the actions I have agreed with First Great Western, which were reported in an announcement by First plc to the Stock Exchange before the markets opened this morning.
	First, I am today issuing First Great Western with a remedial plan notice for exceeding the threshold on cancellations which resulted in a breach of its franchise agreement. In response to this notice, First Great Western will submit a remedial plan for addressing this level of cancellations. Discussions are at an advanced stage on what the plan will contain.
	Secondly, I am also today issuing First Great Western with a breach notice for misreporting its cancellations.
	Thirdly, and importantly for those using First Great Western services, a substantial package of additional benefits for passengers has been agreed.
	First Great Western's franchise contains strict limits on delays and cancellations; specifies the circumstances in which the franchise is in breach, and more seriously still, those circumstances that constitute an event of default; and it sets out the remedies for correcting poor performance.
	Every four weeks, the company reports the number of cancellations, and may claim adjustments to the headline number in line with the provisions of the franchise. My Department tests any such claims, allowing only those we agree with. Typically we reach final agreement on performance within six weeks of the end of the reporting period.
	For the period ending in mid-September 2007, there were a substantial number of claimed cancellation adjustments, which were then scrutinised by my Department. Early in November 2007, before a conclusion could be reached, First Great Western informed the Department that it had discovered that it had been miscalculating the base numbers of train cancellations. Over subsequent weeks it carried out an internal audit of its method of calculating cancellations that uncovered several errors in the methodology, which First Great Western has now corrected.
	First Great Western now accept that they breached the franchise agreement from August to December 2007 in respect of cancellations. I will therefore be issuing later today a remedial plan notice.
	This requires First Great Western to submit to me a remedial plan, to bring the standard of services back to acceptable levels, and it will be contractualised as a remedial agreement. Material non-compliance with the remedial agreement would be a default of the franchise agreement, which could lead to the Government terminating First Great Western's franchise
	In order to prepare an acceptable remedial plan, First Great Western has committed to employ more drivers and other train crew, to deploy extra carriages and to implement a range of other measures to reduce the number of cancellations. First Great Western has already commenced implementation of several of the initiatives.
	In addition to the remedial plan, First Great Western has offered a package of passenger benefits amounting to £29 million.
	First Great Western has already announced that it has doubled passenger compensation for this year.
	But First Great Western has also now committed to the following benefits, as described today to the Stock Exchange:
	further improved passenger compensation from 2009 to 2010;
	an additional 500,000 cheap off-peak tickets on some of the most popular routes from April of this year;
	additional carriages on the Cardiff-Portsmouth route from this summer, to provide extra capacity;
	new, and additional, high-quality information equipment to be installed at more stations than already committed in the franchise agreement; and
	refurbishment of Thames Valley commuter trains to a higher standard than committed in the franchise agreement to commence this year and to be completed by 2011.
	It is also open to me to impose a monetary penalty on First Great Western for under-reporting their performance last year. Any penalty would be paid to central Government. Having considered this carefully, and given that a penalty would not, itself, help passengers, I have opted instead for passengers to receive a better benefits package as described above.
	The franchising system has encouraged good performance from operators, with many train companies operating above target performance levels. However, in the light of the errors in self-reporting that First Great Western brought to light, I have asked my officials to audit reported performance on a risk basis, in particular for those train operating companies whose performance is close to their franchise benchmarks.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council

James Plaskitt: The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council will be held on 29 February in Brussels. There are no health or consumer affairs issues. I shall be representing the UK.
	The first and main item is the preparation for the spring European Council which will be held on 13 and 14 March 2008. The key messages paper, prepared by the Employment Committee and the Social Protection Committee, identifies the key messages emerging from the various other reports for adoption and endorsement at the March Council. The key messages paper will be adopted following a policy debate on strengthening skills, the social dimension and the role of stakeholders.
	The second item is an exchange of views in preparation for the Tripartite Social Summit. This will be held on 13 March in advance of the spring European Council to allow the European social partners time to feed in their views to the spring Council. The social summit will be attended by the current presidency, the two subsequent presidencies (France and the Czech Republic), the Commission and the social partners. It meets at least once a year, including before each annual spring Council.
	The Council will also endorse an opinion by the Employment Committee and the Social Protection Committee on the single market review, which highlights that the single market makes an important contribution to jobs, growth and social cohesion under the Lisbon agenda. The UK supports this opinion.
	The Council will also seek political agreement on the draft Council Resolution on the situation of disabled people in the European Union: the European action plan 2008-09, promoting human rights and the mainstreaming of disability issues. The UK supports the agreement of the resolution.
	Under any other business, there will be a Commission presentation on the Mission for Flexicurity. Its objective will be to explain flexicurity and assist those member states who wish help with developing their own reforms, before reporting back to the Council during the French presidency.
	In addition, the chairs of the Employment Committee and the Social Protection Committee will give an oral presentation to provide information on their 2008 work programmes.